Experience with American Ale II - Wyeast 1272

Hi folks,

I'm looking for input from those that have used Wyeast 1272 American Ale II yeast. The info from their website states that this is a highly floculant yeast, however I am on day 10 in the primary and the yeast remains well suspended in the wort. Temp has been held 65 - 67F. Fermentation started out pretty well with signs beginning at 6 hours and active ferm at 18. High krausen was about day 2-3. Krausen fell back in around day 7. OG was 1.048, Target FG of 1.013

I was hoping for a clear beer out of the primary as the literature seeems to indicate, but I'm wondering about transferring to secondary.

Any experience on clarity with this strain is much appreciated.

Thanks!

I have a smack pack in the fridge waiting for next brew. my lhbs guy has told me good things. what style of beer are you brewing? I am thinking american brown. let me know more about yeast habits. thanks for first post. haven't heard anything about 1272.

I personally like WY1272...have made 3-4 batches with it. I find it to be a little fruitier, and leave a little more maltiness, than the probably much more commonly used WY1056. Similar I suppose to WY1968.

Since I don't like the taste of WY1056, especially in a bottle-conditioned beer (although I'm getting into kegging now), I like this as a "substitute".

The one thing I'm starting to learn is how it will attenuate less than WY1056. I'd be interested to learn what others have observed in terms of attenuation.

Well I ended up racking to secondary last Saturday (day 16) and the beer was still cloudy with yeast. SG was 1.013 which was my target for FG so may get a point or two more out of it. Taste was yeasty, but good. Slight residual maltiness. I'm excited about the final product.

Interestingly by day 2 in the secondary the yeast has completely fallen out and it's looking nice and clear right now. Hoping to bottle this weekend.

By the way the recipe is an Americanized Irish Red.

Your experience is very similar to mine. WY1272 has pretty good suspension and will hang around until transferred.

I love it because its versatile. I've fermented it in the low 70s for an Irish to bring the hops out nicely but then turned around and fermented in the low 60s to get a nice malt profile on a coffee stout.

If you washed and banked this yeast, keep it around!

1272 for me was very neutral and remarkably clear.

glad it cleared up for you, I am liking it more than wlp001 at the moment...

Has anyone tried to cold crash to drop the yeast out of suspension in primary?

i've cold crashed and not cold crashed this yeast.

both ways produces clear beer. but, I keg, so I'm kind of getting some "cold crashing" that way....

An added benefit of 1272 is that it is a classic top-cropping yeast, meaning it leaves a nice layer of yeast on top for either harvesting or O2 protection (I'm only guessing on the O2 protection, but it does leave a thick mat of yeast covering all of the surface area). I ferment in a converted keg kettle, and I can just scoop yeast off of the top of an active ferment and pitch it or save it for my next batch.

Forgot to get back on this:

Bottled this beer almost two weeks ago. It ended up very clear, so my initial concerns were unfounded. Clearly I need to relax!

I did not cold crash (no fridge available for me to do that) but it did clear up very well. My first impression of the beer going into the bottle is that it has a stronger than expected fruit aroma, but I expect that to age out fine. Flavor was really good! So waiting one more week at 70, then I'll know what I got.

MNDan - You're right there was a very long lasting layer of yeast in the primary. I did not harvest however, as I was still skeptical about how this was going to come out. Looks like a missed opportunity!

Was glad to see this thread, thanks Zeplik! I'm trying 1272 for the first time today. Brewing the same recipe I previously used 1028 London Ale with & I'm hoping for the higher flocc as well as comparing the taste.

I'm excited for 1272 this summer, I have a whole slew of beers to try it in: Two Hearted clone, malty American reds, winter warmers for the Christmas season ...

This yeast floccs really well for me, if you have flocculation problems with it I wonder if you have low calcium in your water profile.

love this yeast. first batch 75 % attenuation at low 60's. less bitter yeast taste than 1056. pretty clear even with 2 oz. dry hop. has anybody used it in the summer or around 70 degrees?

jassnibbler said:

love this yeast. first batch 75 % attenuation at low 60's. less bitter yeast taste than 1056. pretty clear even with 2 oz. dry hop. has anybody used it in the summer or around 70 degrees?

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I just used this yeast for the first time in a fresh-hop pale ale. The fermenter was in my basement (70 degrees). I had a wet t-shirt and fan on over the fermenter, but I am not convinced it lowered the temp much/any.

My attenuation was 75%. I racked to a keg after 13 days. I just took a taste today after it'd been in the keg for ~24 hours. MAN, this is fruity!! Like, Juicy Fruit fruity. I hope that ages out. I just put in 2 oz of fresh cascade hops for dry-hopping, too.

1272 is practically my house yeast. I almost always cold crash (keg anyways, so that's additional c c) while not a violent fermentor, I regularly get 75-78% aa. Great in IPAs, APAs, Ambers etc. I will use 001-1056 in lighter Blondes or IIPAs, but I really like that 1272!

1272 is good but I have found that it doesn't like high alcohol. Tried it twice with an imperial IPA with an OG of 1.100 and it stalled out at about 1.034. Similar beer but with a 1.085 OG it took her down to about 1.018. Great yeast but not quite as bulletproof as 1056. Also if you pitch a little cold it can stall out in my experience. It is supposed to take a bit longer to ferment but drop out better when done.

Hi Everyone,

I have a fear and I need a relief . I have a fermenter cooler but It did not work for 7 hours. I left fermenter at 70f and I found it at 84f when I came home. What do you think? It is going to be OK? or not??

Thanks

Erol said:

Hi Everyone,

I have a fear and I need a relief . I have a fermenter cooler but It did not work for 7 hours. I left fermenter at 70f and I found it at 84f when I came home. What do you think? It is going to be OK? or not??

Thanks

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Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew. It will be fine. 7 hours isn't going to ruin anything. Your beer is a resilient animal.